Thursday, June 24, 2010

Mixo and the Lions.

1 of the 4 male lions

Hello everyone. Hope you have had a good week so far.

Tuesday morning with Jared and Alex out and about went well. They followed up on the 4 males from the previous day and found them still devouring the Buffalo carcass in the same spot from the night before. (Afke actually said she could hear the crunching all night from her room as they are not far from us – just a mere 200m as the crow flies across the drainage line.) Mixo wasn’t far behind the next bush as they pulled out of the lion sighting – he was crouching and slinking around the area sussing out the meat left over and I think wondering if he could get a morsel or two. We watched him for a bit and then he moved off like a clever cat away from the lions.

The afternoon drive with Tara and Herman saw the same males finishing off the kill and Mixo not far behind again. It seems we see the two together at the moment. The 4 big male lions with Mixo not too far behind. On the way home Tara and Herman also came across a very sweet Pearl Spotted Owlet perched on a branch.

Mixo at Gowrie Dam

Wednesday started off with Tara and Herman following up on the carcass left by the lion from the day before. They came across some Hyena that eventually had their turn at scavenging for any leftover meat. They also saw Mixo at the carcass looking for his leftovers as well.

On the afternoon drive with Patrick and myself we found the lion quite far from where they had the buffalo kill lying against a termite mound still trying to work off the many kilos of meat they had consumed. Flat cats digesting. We then went in search of Mixo who had been seen around Gowrie Dam but he had moved off by the time we got there and we didn’t get to see him. There were beautiful skies later on in the distance from the fires burning somewhere else in the reserve. Some of the land owners are burning fire breaks during the winter time to protect their land from potential breakout fires.

And the Fireside chat last night was a big highlight for everyone. Herman and Alex have been working on the New water pump in Dixie footage and content with Graham for quite awhile now. Herman sat round the fire with Rexon and Patrick and spoke about the change the new water pump has made to Dixie and how it all came about. Together with the chat we showed the clip Alex had put together of everyone and their thoughts on the big change. What a wonderful video and chat about what Rexon together with WE Angels have been doing in Dixie. It made everyone very happy and from what I could see on chat the viewers loved it and were really behind the whole project!

The same Lion part of the coalition of 4

Other than the game drives at the moment everyone is working hard in camp and working on the Jigga trying to give it a small facelift with some new parts.